1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the field of electronic publishing, and more particularly to an interactive multimedia book useful in providing a user with hands-on multimedia instructions in response to voiced commands.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Books which provide instruction in various arts, ranging from gardening to cooking to woodworking, are especially popular, as may be readily seen by the number of shelves devoted to them in major bookstores. Generally speaking, however, these books are intended to be read at one location, and then the knowledge gained from them applied in another location. Take for example a cookbook. There may be sections of the cookbook which provide instruction on various cooking techniques and other sections which set out the recipes. The user of the cookbook is typically not able to read the book on topics of technique instruction while attempting to cook. It is more a matter of reading and then attempting to execute based on the instructions read. More commonly, a cookbook will be laid open in the kitchen at the place of a recipe to allow the user to make more or less frequent reference to the ingredients and quantities. For this purpose, there are number of devices currently sold in kitchen supply stores which hold a cookbook at an easy to read angle with a transparent plastic cover so as to protect the open pages of the cookbook from splatters. These devices make it difficult to page back and forth in the cookbook, but generally the desired recipe is on a single page.
The ease of use of other types of instructional books is also a problem. A gardening book is typically not found in the environment it describes; that is, in the garden or the potting shed. The book is simply too valuable to the user to be ruined by soil and water and, in any case, the book is not easily used when one is wearing gardening gloves and handling a spade or trowel. The same is true of woodworking books. In the environment of the wood shop, there are many potentially dangerous tools requiring the full attention of the user. One cannot safely operate a radial arm saw while looking at the illustrations in a book.
There are many other instructional books which have the same problems. Many of these are in the nature of do-it-yourself (DIY) repair and maintenance books, such as home repair and automobile repair and maintenance books. Consider for example the problem of replacing an electrical switch in the home. To someone familiar with the procedure, it is quite simple; however, to the new homeowner, even the simplest home wiring problem can be quite mysterious. And sometimes just reading a book on the procedure does not always provide that sufficient degree of confidence that would allow the homeowner to confidently and competently complete the procedure. As to automobile repair and maintenance, which at one time was the avocation of many young American males, this is not something attempted much nowadays simply because the modem automobile has become such a complex machine. Yet, there are many things the average car owner can do on their own provided they had the right instruction. But a book is not always a good substitute for personal instruction.